We adopted a 2 year old Black Lab just one year ago. She has been a dream! She has never chewed on anything. Never got into trash or done any damage in the home. She is alone through the day, has never had a potty accident in the house, and never given us any trouble. One of our son-in-laws likes Peanut M&M's. The wife bought one of those large sacks of Peanut M&M's that has a bunch of smaller sacks of them inside. (I believe they are designed for Halloween give-aways.) She had it wrapped up under the Christmas tree... never thinking about the dog. Wife came home from work and saw all these small "confetti" pieces of paper. Followed the trail. Abby had "unwrapped" the package from under the tree and consumed ALL the M&M's except for one small package. Dogs and chocolate don't get along. Yet, Abby did not have any upset stomach or diarrhea. Abby usually sleeps out in the living room... and sleeps all night. I was out of town. The wife said Abby came into the bedroom, put her feet up on the bed, jumped up and slept all night on my side of the bed. That was something she had not done before, but slept like a log. Wife went to work the next day. Came home for lunch and Abby was in her usual sleep spot. Wife went back to work. Came home after work to a disaster. Every wastebasket in the house was tipped over and contents strewn around. Rug from entryway drug into one of the bedrooms... not chewed on, just changed rooms. Tablecloth in dining room pulled off table onto floor. Bathroom cabinet doors opened. Closet doors opened. About a dozen books pulled out of a low bookcase. Again, nothing damaged... just "vandalized". Our first thought was that the adrenaline "spigot" took a while to turn on. Wife was off work today. Everything went fine until she ran to the grocery store. Only gone for about 45 minutes. Came home to tipped over wastebaskets and opened cabinet doors. In the past year, we've never had an issue with anything like this. We could put anything in a wastebasket and she would not bother it. You could actually leave your plate sitting close to a table edge and she would never bother it. Now, once she got a taste of the M&M's... she seems to be focused on hunting for more anywhere and everywhere. We cannot have Abby destroying the home while we are away. She has never spent a day in a crate or cage since we've had her. Never needed to. Any suggestions??
Hello there When you say your dog is left alone through the day, how long is she left for, and for how many days a week?
Sometimes I think that once there has been one "transgression", they build on it and slowly escalate........ Difficult to blame it on the M&Ms the way you describe it. I guess keeping a close eye on whats happening at home and blocking off some access might be an idea. And the longer your dog is left alone, more opportunity for mischief. Might need to work on keeping her occupied more to stop the self-rewarding she has discovered.
My wife works 4 days/week. She takes a lunch break and comes home to visit with Abby and let her out. So, the longest she is alone is about 4 hours, 4 days/week.
Thanks! May need to begin using "baby gates" and see if that will keep her in a single area while she is alone.
Something that many people find useful is having a dog walker pick up their dog while they're at work and taking the dog for a walk. She will hopefully then be so tired that she won't have the energy to get up to mischief. Although having said that, our dog has a habit of digging in our furniture (very annoying -- if you lift any of the loose base cushions, you'll find the fabric ripped underneath -- thankfully visitors don't realise what is under the cushions they're sitting on!). So when we go out we simply put bar stools across the opening to our lounge and utility room (where the sofas are) and shut the bedroom doors (where there are chairs) in order to protect the furniture. This is in the evening when he's had a few walks during the day, lots of stimulation, had his dinner, and would ordinarily be sleeping while we're at home. He does dig in his bed when he's tired, not sure why (am guessing a primal nesting behaviour), so I guess it's his habit and we have to manage it in order to protect our furniture. Sounds like your dog has developed the habit of redecorating your house!
Wanted to check back in and thank folks for their suggestions. Abby had the one-day event where she sorta went nuts. Since that single event, she has been back to her near perfect self. All we can guess is that she had a delayed adrenaline problem or, as one poster suggested, went on a self-treating binge. She was perfect when we had a house full over Christmas. And, has been perfect since. Thanks again!!!!
